Cortnee Vine Is A Very Good Football Player
Her recent call up to the Matildas squad for a pre-Asian Cup camp in the UAE came after some fine performances on the wing for the Sky Blues. On Saturday, Vine showed exactly why she has caught Tony Gustavsson’s attention, constantly tormenting the left side of the Glory defence with her pace and dribbling skills. Vine’s goal was superbly taken as she executed a sublime first touch to take her away from Sarah Carroll and then accelerated away from the full-back before burying a shot into the far corner of Courtney Newbon‘s net.
Such was her influence on the game that Alex Epakis was forced to swap his full-backs in an attempt to quell her. Unfortunately for Glory by the time this move occurred, Vine had already scored one goal and was involved in the buildup for two more goals, effectively ending the game as a contest inside the first 25 minutes.
Sydney Have Strength in Depth
Such was the dominance of the Sky Blues that Ante Juric was able to give Vine and Remy Siemsen a break on the hour mark, replacing them with two internationals in the shape of Kiwi Paige Satchell and Chilean Cote Rojas. Sydney also went into the game without skipper Nat Tobin (ankle injury), but still managed to keep a fifth consecutive clean sheet. The league’s benchmark team will have to do without Vine and Siemsen for a few games, but the squad looks capable of covering for their absence.
Football Is A Game Played For 90 Minutes
For the second week running, Sydney raced into an impressive first-half lead but then failed to really capitalise in the second half. Against Wellington Phoenix, they failed to score in the second half, and yesterday they only added one more goal to the first half total. Given the defensive dominance they are displaying at the moment, this is not necessarily a problem but they may come unstuck when playing the likes of Melbourne City if they try and get the job done in the first 45 minutes and then take their foot off the gas for the next 45.
Perth Struggle With Set Pieces
So far this season, Perth have conceded goals from set-pieces against Adelaide and now Sydney. The Sky Blues’ fourth goal is one that Epakis will be very disappointed with, as Charlie Rule was completely unmarked when she rose to head the ball home from Mackenzie Hawkesby‘s corner kick. There was a total lack of a challenge on Rule and this will be an area for Perth to work on before they take the field again.
Squad Rotation Is Difficult
The reality of Glory’s enforced fixture situation is that squad rotation is essential, but by resting the best passer in the squad (Hana Lowry) and having Sadie Lawrence on the bench, there was only Danish international Mie Leth Jans with any meaningful playing experience at a senior level in the starting eleven. The Sky Blues midfield of Rachel Lowe, Hawkesby and Sarah Hunter was far too good for their opponents, and time and again the Glory midfield coughed the ball up whilst in possession or simply gave it away. This allowed Sydney to keep applying pressure on the Glory back four and with Vine in such scintillating form, it was hardly a surprise when the goals started flowing.
Full match highlights are below.
https://perthglory.com.au/videos/id/match-highlights-sydney-fc-v-glory/6290602304001
